Owners of eatery where 300 fell ill apologize

In a press release, Jay Zheng — a partner in the Wild Chef Japanese Steakhouse Grill and Bar, 2864 West Shore Drive in Holland Township — said they have never experienced anything like the norovirus outbreak before.

“We apologize deeply and sincerely to everyone who became ill after visiting our restaurant,” Zheng said. “We have never experienced anything like this in the nine years we have been here, and we will work very hard to make sure nothing like this happens again.”

Some customers who ate at the restaurant in late March came down with symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, stomach pain, headache, fever and body aches.

The restaurant was voluntarily closed to work with the Ottawa County Department of Public Health in an investigation into the illnesses.

Before re-opening recently, the restaurant met requirements set by the health department, including: cleaning and disinfecting all restaurant equipment, floors, walls and ceilings; discarding all prepared food; having the entire restaurant team complete an online training course; reinforcing the strict policies and practices already in place for maintaining sanitary conditions; and scheduling county health inspections at regular quarterly intervals during the year ahead.

Kristina Wieghmink, spokeswoman for the Ottawa County Department of Public Health, had previously said they are still investigating the cause of the outbreak. She said the investigation report would be available within 90 days.